Win No 93 For Shiffrin in Lienz !
It was only appropriate that Mikaela Shiffrin (USA) finished her record-breaking 2023 the same way she started it: on top of the podium.
In one of the most dominating performances of her career, Shiffrin won the Lienz slalom by 2.34 seconds on Friday, light years ahead of runner-up Lena Duerr (GER) and third-placed Michelle Gisin (SUI, +2.45s).
It was another beautiful day in Lienz for a women’s World Cup and the Austrian fans did not disappoint, packing the stands and cheering loudly for the top women slalom racers. The day started out with a bang for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team. Paula Moltzan ran with bib four and outpaced the field, sitting in the leaderboard chair for some time. Then teammate Mikaela Shiffrin had an aggressive first run to take the lead by over a second, with Moltzan just behind in second place.
“It’s always a good feeling when you see the green light and beat out some of the other top skiers in the field,” said Moltzan.
On the second run, the surface was strong and the course set perfect for racers to give it their all on the hill. Moltzan ran 29th, so a slight groove was established on the snow - but Moltzan knew what she needed to do. She charged down the final pitch, just a mere tenth of a second off from the leader, but a slight bobble got her off balance and she did not finish the second run.
“The way Paula skied the first run was so wonderful and it's bittersweet and disappointing for her today but it will come, I know it will,” said Shiffrin, who had shared the Lienz slalom podium with Moltzan in 2022.
Shiffrin ran last on run two. She skied calm, cool, collected and fast -- gaining time with each interval to win by a whopping 2.34 seconds above the second place German skier Lena Duerr and third place Swiss skier Michelle Gisin.
"Today was a very special day for me," Shiffrin said after winning her record-extending 93rd World Cup race. "I felt perfect on the skis so I'm super happy."
Shiffrin began 2023 with victory in Zagreb on January 4, broke Ingemar Stenmark's (SWE) all-time World Cup victories record of 86 in March, and finished the year with a double victory in Lienz following her giant slalom triumph on Thursday. Her 13 World Cup wins in 2023 matched 2019 for her second-most in a calendar year after 2018 (15), and it is the third year in a row that she has swept the post-Christmas races in the Austrian resorts of Lienz and Semmering.
"The last couple of years I was really building through the beginning of the season to this point, and somehow it clicks I guess," Shiffrin said.
The 28-year-old built her victory with a spectacular first run that saw her lead by over a second, having no problem with a tricky hairpin that caught out several of the world's best, including Petra Vlhova (SVK) and Leona Popovic (CRO).
With Duerr moving up from fifth after the first run to take the provisional lead, Shiffrin led by 1.66 seconds going into her second run. Rather than ski cautiously, however, she went all out and extended her lead at every split.
"First run, second run were totally different courses — different timing, different flow," Shiffrin said. "And I felt I just had a really good plan and my coaches pointed out the really key sections of the course and then I was good to go."
Aside from personal milestones — she extended her World Cup slalom victory record to 56 and reached her 80th slalom podium, one short of Stenmark's record — Shiffrin's victory was the 89th for the USA in a women's World Cup slalom race, breaking a tie with Austria as the most successful nation in the discipline. On a day in which Shiffrin was a class above the field, her main rival, Vlhova, finished fifth, an extraordinary 3.24 seconds behind, after a disappointing first run left her languishing in 10th place. Vlhova's below-par performance by her standards and Paula Moltzan's (USA) second-run straddle with the finish line in sight as the second-last skier on the mountain opened the door for Deurr and Gisin to reach the podium.
"First run was not so easy, I was not happy with how I skied," said Duerr, who managed the hairpin well but made a couple of other mistakes.
"But the second was really fun. Although it was turny, especially in the last part, I was happy with my skiing."
While Duerr made her third World Cup slalom podium in five races this season, two-time Olympic combined champion Gisin reached her first World Cup podium in any discipline since March 2022.
"It's totally crazy to be back on the slalom podium — I never would have thought that, to be honest," said Gisin, who came third for the third straight biennial slalom race in Lienz, after 2019 and 2021.
Gisin's resurgence — "I think we can say I'm back," she joked — will be one of the storylines to watch as the calendar turns to 2024, but most eyes will be on Shiffrin to see if she can reach the magical number of 100 World Cup wins this season.
The American star's plans for 2024, however, are typically less grandiose than that, which is one of the reasons she has so much success.
"I certainly have wishes but I think in skiing, it's always just: be relentless with the work and do the job and try to enjoy it actually," Shiffrin said.
"In life, I just really wish for nice moments with my family and closest friends. That's pretty simple, I guess."
